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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403354">Return to Hawkeye</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt'>pherryt</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>New Bucky Barnes Bingo [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Avengers - Freeform, Bucky is embarrassed, Clint to the rescue, Face Masks, Fluff, M/M, Pandemic - Freeform, Small bit of angst, Vet!bucky, almost a panic attack, bucky still kicks ass, clint is a role model, deaf!Clint, hurt!bucky, minor PTSD, natasha and tony are amused, natasha's a good bro, non powered bucky, prosthetic, the tower is attacked, tony tinkering with Buckys arm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:01:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky's Pandemic Mask Collection may have gotten a bit out of hand, but if he had to wear one, he was going to <i>own </i> it.</p><p>He just hadn't counted on <i>certain</i> people seeing the one he was wearing today.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Winterhawk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>New Bucky Barnes Bingo [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>236</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, Clintucky Fried Bunnies</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Return to Hawkeye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24396361">how am I gonna be an optimist about this?</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyishBlue/pseuds/GreyishBlue">GreyishBlue</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>From some random musings that built off each other in one of our servers and turned into a prompt several us decided to write: </p><p>"Bucky (non powered, just a hot dude with a sweet prosthetic) buys one of these that's purple and says Return to Hawkeye (hes a fan) and well, he gets knocked out in a Avengers Battle Scene and when they're helping up civilians Nat sees the mask and makes Clint carry him to safety, cue waking up confused in Hawkeyes arms"</p><p>I didn't quite do it like that but, y'know, thats the fun with things like this! I had so much fun with it. BUT OH MY GOD! there were things i wanted to do and the masks kept gettign in the WAY! lol</p><p>Also i've decided this is going on my Bucky Barnes Bingo Free Square :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bucky wasn’t a fan.</p><p>Okay, he was. But not for the reasons everyone <em>else </em>thought he was a fan.</p><p>Sure, Hawkeye was hot. Bucky would have to be fucking blind to miss noticing how hot the superhero was. It didn’t help that Hawkeye’s outfit usually left some of his more impressive… *ahem*… attributes on display.</p><p>Not that the <em>rest </em>of the Avengers weren’t <em>also </em>hot to Bucky’s bisexual gaze, cause <em>damn, </em>but Hawkeye had this ineffable <em>something </em>that just nudged him up above the rest of the pack and it was for <em>that </em>reason that Bucky was a fan.</p><p>From the news conferences and press releases over the years, Bucky had learned that on a team full of superheroes… Hawkeye <em>wasn’t. </em>He was just a regular guy, with an exceptional skill. No super strength, enhanced reflexes or flight. No super genius or magic. He wasn’t a God or a Robot that could phase through walls.</p><p>Nothing special.</p><p>Except he was. Because he was human and still held his own among all those others, and all that despite the recent reveal a few years back of hearing loss, which couldn’t be easy to deal with <em>and</em> be a superhero at the same time. And Bucky… look, Hawkeye was an inspiration, okay? He didn’t let his humanity or his injury hold him down or hold him back. He still went out there, day after day, fight after fight, and he did <em>good.</em></p><p>And then he turned around and went to children’s hospitals and arranged fundraisers, all as Hawkeye, with his purple outfit, purple hearing aids that he didn’t even bother to hide, in stark contrast to the way Bucky had tried to hide his prosthetic before he got the latest in Stark Tech.</p><p>And before <em>that,</em> he hadn’t even left his apartment.</p><p>Hawkeye made Bucky <em>try. </em>For the first time in <em>years,</em> and Bucky wouldn’t be where he was now if it hadn’t been for Hawkeye, though the Avenger would never even know it.</p><p>Nowadays, Bucky was in a good place. He had his own apartment, a fluffy white cat, a high-tech prosthetic that was the envy of many and his bad days were fewer between. And he was finally following his dream, working on a Master’s degree in robotics, his sister Becca teasing how his love of sci fi had translated into real life aspirations.</p><p>Of course, all of that was on hold because of the current Pandemic, and the only reason – the <em>only </em>reason - Bucky was still leaving the apartment, was because the Stark Tech Prosthetic was still in trial mode and needed to be overseen.</p><p>But Bucky didn’t take chances.</p><p>He took his social distancing seriously – something he was actually pretty good at, having become much more introverted since the incident that had taken his arm, the trauma that had him hiding away in his apartment for months before Becca had coaxed him back out and to counseling.</p><p>He’d also made sure to have a lovely supply of masks on hand at all times – it’d be a shame to survive the army and everything else just to be taken down by something he <em>could </em>have prevented. But just because wearing a mask was annoying, didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun with it. He browsed websites for the best pieces and started a collection, making sure to always have a few extra, in case some other poor soul needed some.</p><p>At this point, though, his collection <em>might </em>be getting out of hand, not that he’d admit that to his sister. He’d… find <em>something </em>to do with them after this was all over but dammit, if he had to wear a mask, he was going to <em>own </em>it.</p><p>In the meantime, he was pretty proud of the pieces he’d collected. Some of them were stylish, specifically chosen to match entire outfits, some of them were gags, because who didn’t need a good joke these days?</p><p>And then there was the jewel of his collection.</p><p>Bucky had managed to find Avenger themed face masks – not only one for each and every Avenger, but he’d also found <em>two </em>for Hawkeye (and Hawkeye merch was seriously hard to come by) which meant that he had enough Avenger masks to wear one a day.</p><p>Since this happened to be Avenger week (it was the anniversary of that fateful day the aliens had attacked) Bucky was doing <em>just that</em><em>.</em></p><p>(Even if he was tempted to just alternate the Hawkeye ones all week, because seriously, the man was underrated and definitely deserved it).</p><p>Still, Bucky was damn well going to wear Hawkeye’s mask to his next appointment at the tower, just to make Tony Stark squirm and act all affronted because it wasn’t <em>his.</em></p><p>It was the little things that made life fun, even in the midst of an epidemic.</p><p>What Bucky <em>hadn’t </em>counted on was the attack on Stark Tower – recently rebranded as the Avengers Tower – while he was on the premises.</p><p>He should have, to be honest. It was a trouble <em>magnet</em>, and just because it had never been attacked while <em>Bucky</em> was there before, shouldn’t have lulled him into a sense of – well, not complacency, exactly, but…</p><p>Whatever. Didn’t matter now, because Stark Tower was under attack and Bucky was stuck on the R &amp; D floor and wondering what the smartest move to make was, and hoping he could keep a lid on his PTSD.</p><p>Now would <em>not </em>be the best time to freeze or have a panic attack.</p><p>Stark hadn’t even had the chance to show up to Bucky’s appointment before the first explosion.</p><p>“Attention Avengers Tower, would all civilians please evacuate the premises,” the calm voice of JARVIS, the building’s AI (who Bucky secretly loved to chat with when given the opportunity) said, cutting easily through the blaring klaxons and sounds of a firefight. “Remember to take the stairs if possible. Elevators are to be used only as a last resort.”</p><p>A second explosion rocked the building and Bucky’s breathing hitched. He closed his eyes, attempted to center himself, and opened them again, looking around to make sure he was really alone on the R &amp; D floor.</p><p>The sounds of a firefight was distant, but ever present, and it took everything in Bucky to stay calm. He let his fingers trace the edges of his Hawkeye mask where it fitted over his face - the purple fabric was the exact shade of the predominant color of Hawkeyes suit, the lettering in his brighter accent color – and tried to draw strength of will and calmness from it.</p><p>Pushing forward, Bucky hit the stairwell at a run, clutching the railing every time a boom sounded a bit too close, shaking the building and making Bucky’s heart rate skyrocket. Visions teased at the edge of his eyes, memories he could do well with <em>not </em>remembering right now.</p><p>He had to get out of the building first and foremost. Get himself out of danger.</p><p>Halfway down, he saw someone struggling on the stairs, limping, and Bucky didn’t stop to think of himself, nor the pandemic, nearly leaping the space between them to grab them, sling their arm over his shoulders and help them the rest of the way.</p><p>Focusing on the other person actually helped Bucky stay calm, and it was with relief that they saw the front doors of the building looming in front of them, freedom and safety only steps away.</p><p>And then the whole front end shattered inward and Bucky swung around, turning his back to the shards of glass and who knew what else flying at him and the other person.</p><p>The shattered glass was followed by several… things…</p><p>What the hell <em>were </em>they?</p><p>“Hide!” he yelled at the injured person, casting about for <em>something </em>to use as a weapon. They scrambled on hands and knees, tucking themselves behind a counter. Bucky had to hope that they’d be left alone – out of sight, out of mind, right? His eyes fell upon a steel beam and he inched towards it, keeping a wary eye on the things that were now sniffing about the room.</p><p>The head of one of them shot up, weird unfocused gaze coming to rest right on him – what the hell? It’s mouth opened in a hiss, reveling a set of teeth that would make a shark envious – and Bucky leapt towards the beam, stretching out the prosthetic – it had more strength, more grip, he just had to hope his shoulder could take it, they hadn’t exactly tested for this sort of use – to grab and lift it, whirling about to face the thing with the beam held out like a baseball bat.</p><p>“Come and get it!” Bucky growled with way more confidence then he felt. His stomach was twisted up in knots and for a few moments, he forgot where he was, ears ringing with shells and explosions. He shook it off with another yell, swinging as the thing lunged at him.</p><p>Bucky got in a couple of good blows, but then the thing was joined by more many limbed horrors and he was starting to lose ground.</p><p>This was it.</p><p>This was where he’d die.</p><p>
  <em>Goodbye Becca. I’m sorry – </em>
</p><p>An arrow whizzed past his face and buried itself in the eye of the thing closest to Bucky. He stumbled back and gaped – not that anyone could see that past his mask – and blinked as Hawkeye swung down past him like a goddamned avenging angel.</p><p>Heh.</p><p>Avenging Angel.</p><p>No, don’t get distracted. Life and death situation here. Something lunged at him and reflexes born of combat from his time in the army had Bucky moving again without thinking. Again and again, he swung, ducked and dodged, the world blurring in his eyes and ears to whatever thing was directly in front of him at that moment, instinctively shifting whenever he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes.</p><p>Bucky wasn’t sure how long he fought alongside Hawkeye. There were flashes of costumes that flew or ran past, and he knew they weren’t alone. But it was getting harder and harder to breathe through the mask, with all that exertion, and he was – high tech prosthetic or no – only human, and a damaged one at that.</p><p>He was slowing down…</p><p>He didn’t hear the shout in time to move out of the way of falling debris…</p>
<hr/><p>“I’m just saying,” Clint said into the comms as he drew back his bowstrings, letting two arrows fly with hardly a thought. “Calling it Avengers Tower is like, sticking a bullseye on it. And it’s big enough it doesn’t need any more help. A <em>stormtrooper </em>could hit it at this rate.”</p><p>“On the other hand, Legolas, if the bad guys are attacking the Tower, then they’re <em>not </em>attacking the subway system, or the Statue of Liberty, or, y’know, breaking Brooklyn again,” Tony said, his voice echoing tinnily into his comms as he did a flyby, swerving around the building. His repulsors hit several more of the things, picking them off the side of the Tower as they tried to scale it. “Basically, if they’re coming after us, the less other, innocent people just trying to go about their day are getting hurt. As long as, y’know, we can keep it contained.”</p><p>Clint shrugged, loosing three more arrows in fast succession. Okay, Tony might have a point, but that didn’t mean Clint had to say so out loud. His ego – well deserved or not – was big enough as it was. Kinda like the Tower, actually.</p><p>“Speaking of, is everyone out?” Steve called. Clint could see him bashing in the head of another thing. Clint wasn’t even sure <em>what </em>they were, but they were slimy, spit something gooey that stank so bad it made Clint want to gag, and had 4 arms and a trillion eyes.</p><p>Okay, only, like, five eyes, but that was bad enough, though from what he could tell, they didn’t do these things much good. And despite the wrong limb count, they still reminded him all too much of a spider. And not the fun, cuddly kind like Nat.</p><p>“JARVIS?” Tony asked.</p><p>“Negative, sir. Two civilians are trapped in the lobby, though one is holding his own for now,” JARVIS said, patching his voice through the comms without prompting. Usually, JARVIS only talked to Tony, but occasionally, the AI made his own judgement call. He was smart like that. Clint liked JARVIS. (That was another thing he wasn’t telling Tony any time soon, though).</p><p>“I’m on it,” Clint said. Taking note that the lobby glass was already smashed in, Clint switched out for his grappling arrow. It’d be a shame to lose the high ground he’d found across the street, but that’s how it went sometimes. You had to go with the flow.</p><p>Within seconds he was hurtling through the windows, his eyes taking in the scene quickly, a snapshot burned on his mind. He was letting go of the grappling rope and fitting an arrow to his strings before he’d finished swinging in. He watched, grimly satisfied, when the arrow embedded itself into the eye of the thing closest to the wild haired civilian wielding… was that part of the fucking <em>building?</em></p><p>Huh. He had to hand it to the civilian. He was, as JARVIS had said, holding his own fairly well. Movement caught his eye, and he saw the second civilian JARVIS had mentioned, hiding behind the counter, eyes wide and fearful.</p><p>“How’s everything inside?” Natasha asked breathlessly over the comms.</p><p>Clint was already moving, already sending out sticky arrows and explosives alike, keeping one eye on the other guy who wasn’t hesitating to wade into the fray, though there was something a little glassy about his expression. Clint winced internally. Oh, that couldn’t be good. Traumatized civilian coming right up.</p><p>Still, he wasn’t half bad, there weren’t <em>a lot </em>of those things in here, and it’d free up the others. This was doable.</p><p>“Nothing we can’t handle.”</p><p>“We?” she asked, her voice arching upwards.</p><p>“This guy’s no slouch,” Clint said, dodging a wad of gooey spit. “And, he’s pretty hot, actually.”</p><p>Which, Clint wasn’t lying. This guy was definitely hot. He moved with a grace Clint didn’t often see, his hair was long and loose, every move making it swish nicely around him like a halo. There was strength there, too, that made Clint’s imagination flare up. What he wouldn’t do to be able to gaze at those shifting muscles more closely.</p><p>He cleared his throat and wrenched his thoughts out of that direction. If he weren’t so busy, Clint knew he would have had stars in his eyes.</p><p>Natasha did too. Dammit.</p><p>“Clint,” she said, drawing his name out disapprovingly. “Is now <em>really</em> the time for ogling?”</p><p>“You don’t know I was ogling! Besides, I can multitask,” Clint protested. “And I’ve got eyes.”</p><p>“And <em>he </em>probably has ears,” she said. “You might want to tone down the commentary before you make it awkward.”</p><p>“Let him go,” Tony said suddenly. “Let him be awkward. It’s usually fucking hilarious. Our very own awkward hawk.”</p><p>Tony wooshed into the lobby and past Clint, taking out one of the things behind him, before banking, twisting, and flying back out.</p><p>“Real funny,” Clint groused. The fight then devolved into the usual tedium when it was nothing more than mindless hordes and breathless banter. The danger was more in how <em>many</em> of them there were, then any truly masterminded plan.</p><p>Clint couldn’t even think of anybody who could be <em>responsible</em> for these things. An experiment gone wrong? Dr. Doom stuck to robots, so it wasn’t him. This didn’t seem HYDRA’s style, though you never knew with them. AIM, well, yeah, it was probably them. they were <em>just </em>the type to let something get away from them before they were ready.</p><p>“Warning, structural damage to the forward pylon,” JARVIS intoned through the coms. “Collapse imminent.”</p><p>“Fuck,” Clint swore, turning to see the pylon in question, the gigantic cracks curving around the surface, pieces already falling away. Then he noticed the civilian, standing far too close to it for Clint’s liking. He was scratched, bleeding, covered in sweat and goo and breathing hard and slowing down.</p><p>Clint shouted –</p><p>The man turned –</p><p>It was too late. The pillar collapsed, bringing some of the ceiling with it, a chunk hitting the other man on the head and taking him down.</p><p>Before Clint could check on him, the remaining things in the lobby converged on him, maws opened wide and he flipped himself up to the counter, watching an arrow hit each creature in turn. By the time the last one went down and he could look about the lobby, Nat was already kneeling at the guys side and the dust was settling.</p><p>“I think that was the last of them,” Steve said through the coms. “And I can already hear the ambulances. Is anybody hurt?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Clint said. “The two in here are.”</p><p>Hopping down off the counter, Clint extended his arm to the person trembling beneath it. Slowly, they took it and Clint helped them support their weight as they moved away from the counter. They winced at the sight of all the hostiles, the twitching remains of those gruesome creatures, and picked up the pace despite their pain. Clint handed them off to Steve and turned back to Nat and the other guy, hurrying to their side.</p><p>Nat had already cleared the piece of building that had tried to crush the young man and was settled back on her heels.</p><p>“Steady pulse. Nothing too serious. Worst is the head wound,” Nat said. Something in her tone made Clint look at her sharply.</p><p>“What?” he asked.</p><p>“Nothing,” she said, her lips twitching just slightly, just enough to let him see it. “But I think this one’s yours.”</p><p>“Thought you told me no ogling, Nat?”</p><p>“Something tells me he won’t be objecting,” she said. “I’ll touch base with the others. Let me know if you need help.”</p><p>Then she stood and left him alone with the unconscious civilian, Clint still trying to figure out what had changed and if he should move him or wait for him to wake up.</p><p>A groan pulled his attention back, making the question moot, and within seconds, Clint was helping the other man sit up. “Easy, there,” Clint said. “There’s an ambulance already on it’s way. Can you stand?”</p><p>The man blinked at him and Clint was arrested by the gray blue eyes. A flush appeared over his cheeks, barely seen with the way his mask was covering his face. Wait, the mask…</p><p>It was a deep purple, the same purple that made up the bulk of Clint’s own costume, in fact. But it wasn’t one solid color, but neither did it have a pattern. Instead, there were words, stitched in with a lighter purple and how Clint hadn’t seen it before, his eyes going wide and his mouth gaping open as he read the words emblazoned over the hot guy’s face –</p><p>
  <em>If Lost, Return to Hawkeye</em>
</p><p>Clint swallowed. Okay. So. A fan. A really, <em>really </em>hot fan, now that Clint was getting an even closer up look at the guy. If only that mask wasn’t in the way – but, oh god, that was why Nat had bailed suddenly...</p><p>“Yeah, I think so,” the man said, voice gruff and muffled, jerking Clint out of his thoughts. He shook his head and he looked up at Clint, blinked and demanded, “Wait, where’s your damn mask? Fuck, you’re an Avenger – shouldn’t you be setting a good example?”</p><p>“Like anybody would ever look to me as a role model,” Clint said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t worry, though. It’s right here,” Clint said. He poked at his face and a blue sparkle, much like one of Tony’s holoscreens, flared up. “Stark Tech. He’s still working on the civilian affordable version. So, you know who I am, what’s your name?”</p><p>“Bucky,” Bucky said. He was flushing again and oh, that was a nice color on him, though it did clash with the purple a little.</p><p>Clint grinned at him. “Bucky. Nice. Thanks for the assist, Buck,” he said. He stood, bringing Bucky with him. Bucky gingerly tested his weight, took a step, then another. He nodded, then winced, his hand coming up to his head as he wobbled. Clint caught him. “Hey, hey, I got ya. Let’s go see the EMT’s, yeah?”</p><p>It wasn’t the best thing, that they were touching, but Bucky needed the help, just as the other civilian had, and Clint’s costume came with gloves so there was that, and he knew <em>he </em>didn’t have anything – unless those stupid things had given him something when they spit goo at him.</p><p>He wouldn’t put it past them.</p><p>They’d reached the shattered windows when Bucky spoke up again. “That’s not true, you know.”</p><p>“What isn’t?” Clint wondered.</p><p>“That you’re not a role model. You are. It’s not just the Avenging, though that’s part of it. The work you do outside of Avenging, the strength you have to keep going, to keep up – it’s helped me through some tough spots,” Bucky said.</p><p>Before Clint could answer, Tony landed beside them. “Buckaroo! Hey! I should have known it was you in there. Guess we missed our appointment. Let me take a look at your arm.”</p><p>“His arm? It’s fine. Just his head – “ Clint started.</p><p>Bucky shuddered. “I’d rather not do that out here, Stark,” he said, his left hand suddenly curling in across his stomach.</p><p>Tony’s faceplate snapped open. “C’mon, Buckster, we gotta make sure –“</p><p>“Tony!” Clint snapped. “He didn’t say no, he said not out here. Give him space.”</p><p>“Oh!” Tony blinked. “Right. Of course. How stupid of me. Right, well, as soon as the EMT’s are done looking at your head, why don’t you come back inside? We’ll order pizza, have a few beers, check your arm. Clint, why don’t you stay with him – “ Was Tony laughing at him? Oh god, Bucky’s mask. Clint was <em>never </em>going to live this down – “meet us inside when he’s done and we’ll make sure nothing got fucked up by that little backyard scrap.”</p><p>Clint looked at Tony skeptically. “Not that I mind, but if he has regular appointments at the Tower, doesn’t he already know the way? Why would Bucky need my help?”</p><p>Tony looked at Bucky and grinned. “Maybe he doesn’t, but I’m sure he won’t object, will you Buckminster? Besides, head wound, could get a little disorientated. Towers big. Wouldn’t want him getting lost, wandering about with an empty stomach. Gotta think ahead, Katniss.” Tony clapped Clint on the shoulder, his helmet slammed back into place and then he was gone, leaving Clint and Bucky staring up after him with slightly shellshocked eyes.</p><p>“I’d ask if he was always like that but…” Bucky trailed off.</p><p>“But you already know the answer to that if you’ve been coming by the tower regularly,” Clint finished.</p><p>Bucky nodded, then winced again, just as an EMT stepped up with a penlight. Clint stepped back, hesitating. Should he stay? It wasn’t a hardship, babysitting duty to a hot guy, and it sure as hell beat the cleanup Steve was already organizing. But that didn’t mean Bucky <em>wanted </em>him to stay.</p><p>The mask could be a joke. Or he could have been disillusioned by, well, meeting Clint in the flesh. Most people usually were. Either of which was better than what Steve had had to deal with last month (and Tony on a regular basis). Obsessive stalkers were no joke, even if you <em>were </em>an Avenger.</p><p>He turned to go and a hand snapped out to grasp his. Clint halted in his surprise, head whipping around to face Bucky. Bucky’s face was obviously flushed now, spreading to the tips of his ears and down his neck, what Clint could see of it.</p><p>The hand holding Clint’s spasmed and Bucky winced. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to – “ but he didn’t let go.</p><p>Behind them, something fell, crashing to the ground and Bucky jumped and the fingers holding Clint’s squeezed, hard, unyielding. Clint thought back to the fight, the glazed over look in his eyes. Capable, yes, but…</p><p>“You a vet?” Clint asked softly.</p><p>Bucky nodded jerkily. “Sorry, I can’t seem to let go.”</p><p>“No problem,” Clint said, sitting down next to Bucky on the back of the ambulance while the EMT poked and prodded at Bucky, all while glaring at Clint disapprovingly. “I’ll stick with you, long as you need me to. And hey, call me Clint, okay?”</p>
<hr/><p>Bucky felt like an idiot.</p><p>The sequence of events was unbelievable. How did he get himself into these messes?</p><p>First, he’d gotten cornered, then taken out by falling debris in the battle. When he came to, he was sure Hawkeye caught him ogling which was mostly okay, he could have blamed the head injury, until he’d remembered, suddenly, <em>which </em>mask he had chosen to wear to his appointment that day.</p><p>Oh god, how embarrassing!</p><p>Bucky could feel his face going hot with mortification and promptly overcompensated by daring to <em>question </em>Hawkeye about the Avenger’s apparent lack of face mask during a pandemic, getting angry enough at Clint to fight him over it.</p><p>Needlessly so, since of course Hawkeye <em>was </em>wearing one. Bucky should have expected no less from the man who selflessly gave himself to worthy causes. And of course, since it was something Stark had made, it was high tech.</p><p>And if that wasn’t bad enough, Bucky had needed help to get out of the building, he’d babbled at Clint about being a role model, then Stark had tried to – reasonably so – check his arm and Bucky had panicked over it. And something <em>was</em> wrong with his arm after all, because when Clint had turned to go, Bucky had panicked <em>again.</em> Bucky really hadn’t intended on grabbing Clint at all – only he <em>had!</em></p><p>Again, and again, and again, panic and embarrassment, gut reactions that made no sense. And Clint seeing through him, seeing Bucky’s PTSD at the heart of it all –</p><p>How would Bucky live this down?</p><p>And yet, there was no pity in Clint’s eyes, only understanding. That, more than anything, kept Bucky centered throughout the rest of his examination. He was still a little dazed and Bucky couldn’t tell anymore if that was the headwound or the headiness of being in Clint’s presence – and so far, Clint was <em>not </em>living up to the “Never meet your idols” fear.</p><p>Which was a good thing.</p><p>Or a bad, depending on your perspective. Because how could Bucky possibly go back to <em>normal</em> after meeting him?</p><p>Through it all, Bucky had been unable to let go of Clint’s hand, which had been quite embarrassing to admit. So Clint accompanied him back to one of Tony’s labs, one that Bucky hadn’t yet seen.</p><p>Tony turned, eyes automatically falling on their joined hands. “Moving a little fast, aren’t we?”</p><p>“I can’t let go,” Bucky blurted.</p><p>Tony blinked. “Right, okay, well, sit down right there, well, both of you I guess and…” mumbling to himself, Tony dropped something over Bucky’s head and rolled up his sleeves as far as they could go, opening a panel in Bucky’s forearm. Bucky – normally fascinated with any tech, especially Stark made – winced and looked away from Tony poking around at his innards, from Clint finally seeing how broken Bucky was –</p><p>Tony prattled up a stream and Bucky must have still been out of it because the tech speak turned into babble and his head wouldn’t stop hurting and then his ears were ringing and ringing and ringing –</p><p>“Uh, you gonna answer that?” Tony asked, pausing to poke Bucky in the side with a screwdriver. At least, Bucky <em>thought </em>it was a screwdriver.</p><p>Bucky blinked. Oh. Fumbling with his jacket with his free arm, he pulled his phone out of the inside pocket. He winced when he saw the caller ID. Oh no.</p><p>Warily answering the phone, Bucky said, “Hey, Becca –“</p><p>“Don’t ‘Hey, Becca,” me,” his sister snapped. “Are you all right? I saw you on the news –“</p><p>“I’m okay –“ Bucky tried. Damn, but his face itched. He’d been wearing the face mask so long it was hot and sweaty and unbearable.</p><p>“Don’t lie to me! I saw you, sitting in the back of an ambulance – “</p><p>“It was just a formality,” he protested. “I’m <em>fine</em>, I <em>swear.”</em></p><p>“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice small and worried. He hated hearing that from her, hated making her feel that way.</p><p>“I’m sure,” he said, more softly.</p><p>There was a moment of silence, blessed, blessed silence – even Tony was quiet, out of respect for the phone call – and then –</p><p>“So,” she said slowly, a sly note in her voice. “Did you kiss Hawkeye?”</p><p>“BECCA!” Bucky hissed.</p><p>He could hear her laughing as he hung up, his face burning up even worse than before. Oh god, had they <em>heard </em>that? Clint and Tony were practically right on top of him! And if those hearing aids were Stark Tech, who <em>knew </em>how good they were, how much they could pick up?</p><p>Tony was snickering and Clint was staring at Bucky with wide eyes. There was <em>no </em>way they hadn’t heard. Fuck.</p><p>“I’m… I’m so sorry. That was inappropriate – “</p><p>“Can I take you on a date?” Clint blurted.</p><p>Bucky froze. He couldn’t believe his ears. “What?”</p><p>“A date. You and… and me?” Clint asked, his face going red, his word turning hesitant. “If you want? I mean, I thought – “</p><p>“Why me?” Bucky asked – and why the fuck was he questioning this? Becca would be laughing at him even <em>harder </em>after this.</p><p>“Uh, well, you gotta know you’re gorgeous, yeah? And you um, don’t seem to have a bad opinion of me, and I’ve been getting the impression that you’re possibly interested but not… like, you don’t give off serial killer vibes, okay? And do you <em>know</em> how hard it is dating when you’re an Avenger? Even the least popular one? I always gotta worry about the other persons intentions. Maybe this won’t go far but… I mean… isn’t that what dating is for?” Clint wound up on a question, and his face was adorably scrunched in worry, one hand reaching behind to rub at the back of his neck in an obvious nervous gesture that was, somehow, endearing.</p><p>“God, you’re pathetic, Barton. How do you ever get dates?” Tony said, shaking his head. “Okay, Bucky, you’re all set.”</p><p>Bucky blinked down at his hand and wriggled his fingers. They slipped off of Clint’s hand and Clint stood abruptly. He wasn’t looking at either of them now. “Uh, sorry I made it awkward. I’ll just – “ He jerked his newly released hand over his shoulder and this time, when Bucky reached for him, he <em>meant it.</em></p><p>“Wait,” Bucky said. “I’d love to. Just, wasn’t sure I wasn’t just suffering from head trauma.”</p><p>“Well, you are,” Tony said helpfully, packing up his stuff. “But he really did ask you out. And I’m glad you said yes, cause otherwise, he might mope around the Tower and do you know what a moping Clint looks like?”</p><p>Bucky turned away from Tony to stare up at Clint. “No, but I think I’d like to,” he said.</p><p>Tony shook his head. “Well, there’s no accounting for taste, I suppose.”</p><p>“Shut up, Tony,” Clint said.</p><p>Clutching at his heart, Tony gasped dramatically. “Is that anyway to treat the guy who’s gonna help you boys get together?”</p><p>“I think we did that well enough on our own,” Bucky said absently, getting lost in Clint’s eyes.</p><p>“Fine,” Tony sniffed. “See if I give you one of <em>these </em>then.” He waved something in front of Bucky’s face but Bucky shrugged.</p><p>“I don’t even know what that is,” he said. Clint, however, snatched it out of Tony’s hands and then tugged Bucky to his feet. Tony squawked as Bucky stumbled after Clint, chuckling. This was a side of the Avengers the public didn’t get to see. Sure, everyone knew Stark was a smart ass as well as a genius, but Bucky had learned a while back that he was also a soft touch.</p><p>That there were more sides of them discover, he wasn’t surprised. That he was the one getting the glimpse behind this curtain – well, that he <em>was </em>a little surprised over.</p><p>They didn’t stop moving till they were back in the elevator.</p><p>“So, uh, what was that all about?” Bucky asked.</p><p>Clint grinned. “Spare mask,” he said, slipping something small but tough around Bucky’s neck. It was almost a necklace, a small round disc dangling in the center. “You activate it like <em>this.” </em>Clint tapped the disc and that same sparkling energy slid up around Bucky’s face, flared softly then dimmed, so that you only knew it was on if your eyes hit it just right. “Now you can take that other one off – as uh, cool as it is, it’s gotta be uncomfortable by now.”</p><p>Bucky snorted. “It’s okay, you can tell me how you really feel about the mask,” he said, reaching up to pull the fabric off his face, finally breathing clearly for the first time in… hours, he thought. He stuffed it in his pocket carefully. He wasn’t about to get rid of the mask. This was going to be his <em>lucky </em>mask.</p><p>Besides, he had to go home sometime, and nobody else would know he had a special Stark face mask. Nor did he think it wise to advertise that fact.</p><p>That was probably just asking for trouble.</p><p>The elevator opened on a large, airy room, several others already there, the smell of pizza thick and strong, but Clint didn’t step out yet, so Bucky didn’t either.</p><p>“Uh, I know I asked you out on a date, and ideally, the first one wouldn’t be me subjecting you to all my friends and co-workers at once, and would involve something fancier than pizza for dinner. Not to mention clothes that weren’t stained with blood and uh, whatever <em>this </em>is –“ Clint said, picking at a piece of his uniform, “but um…”</p><p>Bucky held up a hand. “Pizza and your friends are just fine,” he said. Clint slumped in relief. “But uh, if you’re worried about all the goo, I wouldn’t mind if you took your shirt off.” Bucky let his gaze flick down and back up. “<em>Really</em> wouldn’t mind.”</p><p>The laugh that pealed from Clint’s lips, the smile – no, the <em>beaming grin – </em>that spread across his face, the sparkle that lit up his eyes, the way all of it transformed his tired expression into something real and joyful –</p><p>Oh yeah, Bucky was a fan before, but he was <em>lost </em>now.</p><p>If he let himself fall, he didn’t think there’d be <em>any</em> coming back from Clint Barton.</p><p>He fingered the cloth in his pocket – <em>If lost, Return to Hawkeye – </em>and realized that even this soon, with only this brief glimpse beyond the Avengers curtain at the real Clint –</p><p>Bucky was pretty okay with that.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="https://pherryt.tumblr.com/post/619293227221204992/return-to-hawkeye-marvel-avengers-au-rated-g">Rebloggable Tumblr Post </a><br/>  <a></a></p></blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
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        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25482955">If Found</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiBun/pseuds/TiBun">TiBun</a>
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